Originally Posted by
RENURPP
maybe a Twin Otter?
in the 80’s Sunstate was owned by Bevan Whitaker, they did operate bandits, twin otters, shorts 360 and nomads for a short time. In the late 80’s when TAA bought a 1/3 share the fleet was rationalised and no more nomads.
Bevan did many things in addition to starting and developing Sunstate.
I met Bevan in the late 90s when he ran Whitaker Air to/from Lady Elliot Iskand, and also had the LEI lease. He was then well into his seventies and still had car franchises in Maryborough and elsewhere. Well over 6 ft tall he was an impressive figure even at that age.
He told me he had driven taxis as an under 18 teenager during WW2 in Maryborough, began an automotive repair business, then a cherokee 6 to get around when that expanded. He also bulldozed the Noosa strip himself and later bought the Great Keppel lease for a song and put in the electric cable from the mainland. An impressive life story.